Film diplomacy in action at the 23rd Boston Turkish Festival: A critical look at immigrants efforts to promote Turkish culture

In the turmoil of political relations between the US and Turkey, cultural activities build bridges that facilitate diplomacy and mutual understanding. In this report, I explore how the 23rd Boston Turkish Festival (BTF) serves as a deployment of film diplomacy and presents a strategic image of Turkey in the US via films. The themes covered by BTF films demonstrate how Turkish[1] immigrants aim to affect knowledge circulation about their culture in the US. To explore film diplomacy in the context of the BTF, I first review the festival organisers, supporters, and sponsors. Next, I consider the festival in the larger historical context of the US-Turkey media network. An analysis of the films reveals how an intercultural understanding is communicated through stories of villages, nature, education, and minorities. Finally, I trace how feminist solidarity movements affect festival programming and examine the representation of women’s voices at the BTF. While the 23rd BTF attempts to foster meaningful cultural exchanges and solidarities between the US and Turkey, the festival’s prioritisation of patriarchal and nationalistic films is an obstacle that whitewashes the turmoil in the region.